Women’s Hockey Downs Princeton After Strong First Period

Story posted October 27, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Anna Pitingolo

Penn State (3-2-2) defeated Princeton (0-1-0) Sunday night 2-1 in the first of a two game series against the Tigers.

Princeton, playing in its first game of the season, looked to be rusty for much of the first period, and appeared to be facing obstacles that Penn State, playing in its seventh game, had already overcome.

Penn State kept the momentum on their side right up until Amy Peterson was able to take advantage of one of the many Nittany Lion power plays. The sophomore forward scored her first of two goals at the 5:38 mark to put Penn State on the board.

The Nittany Lions were able to remain dominant for the rest of the period, outshooting the Tigers 10 to 9. Peterson came up big again in the waning minutes of the first period, scoring her sixth goal of the year off an assist from Hannah Hoenshell and Laura Bowman. The goal gave Penn State a comfortable lead heading into the intermission.

“We definitely had a good vibe going,” Peterson said about the locker room atmosphere between periods. “We always try to keep it light between periods.”

The puck didn’t see the back of the net again until the third period, when Princeton was finally able to cut the deficit in half. Junior Cristin Shanahan got one past goalie Celine Whitlinger with 7:09 left to play, giving Princeton some life in the final minutes of the game.

Following the Princeton goal, Penn State was able to keep possession of the puck long enough to run out the clock. The win adds to the already impressive start to the season, which includes a program best .571 winning percentage.

While Head Coach Josh Brandwene was happy with the result, the third year coach said the team still has a lot to improve on before they continue on with the rest of the season.

“From a process standpoint, there are a lot of things we need to do better that we simply did not do as a hockey team today,” Brandwene said.

With back-to-back games against the Tigers, Brandwene said the team is “looking to get better here as we look forward to tomorrow.”

The two teams are back in action today at 4 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena and can be heard live on ComRadio

Anna Pitingolo is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To reach her, please email anna.piting@gmail.com.